Shadows Born Apart
by Steathhunter4l
Summary: A retelling of the first book, with one major change, Durzo Blint is a woman, just an idea i have been toying with and decided to write, other changes may occur as the story unfolds. Rated M for Mature content and Themes
1. Chapter 1

Shadows Born Differently

Azoth crawled into the narrow crawlspace beneath the tavern, silently damning the gods who had made so much of the Warrens to be on top of marshlands, or maybe he should damn the builders for being so foolish.

It was worth it though, the sun was far off and the tavern seemed empty apart from the owner, and coins were like too have dropped down through the gaps in the floor, and it was easy to find a few coppers down here, as far as he was aware no one else new about this spot.

He prowled forward his trained eyes darting back and forth looking for anything shiny, dues were tomorrow, four coppers and he didn't have a one, last time he had nearly died from the bite of a White Wolf Spider, and hadn't come back all week since then out of fear, but he had overheard that the owners tomcat had eaten the Spider, killing it subsequently.

He grabbed his first copper, and realized from the sound of metal on dark wood, that someone had to be inside other than the tavern keeper, he tilted his head up slightly, he saw the source.

There was a woman sitting there drinking, In the Warrens you had to judge a mark quickly, and even with quick hands as his you were bound to be caught stealing eventually, and you needed to be able to tell the difference between the merchants who would hit you so you wouldn't try there stall again, and the ones who would beat you so badly you would never get the chance.

And with those quick eyes Azoth judged the women in an instant, finding her rather sad and lonely looking, before he fully took in the huge sword and dark clothes, sad and lonely perhaps, dangerous more importantly.

"How could you abandon me?" The Woman muttered soft enough that Azoth could barely make out the words; she had a tankard in one hand, and was staring into something in the other. "How could you just leave me after all these years? Is it about Vonda?" She whispered to herself.

Something above came down hard on the boards above him, sending his face into a puddle of water and Azoth had to scrounge breath to stop from inhaling water.

"Why Durzo Blint, you never fail to surprise," the weight above Azoth said. Nothing was visible of the man through the gaps except a drawn dagger. He must have dropped from the rafter. "Hey, I'm all for calling a bluff, but you should have seen Vonda when she realized you weren't coming to save her, bitch nearly made me cry."

The Lanky woman turned. Her voice almost breaking, "I killed siz men tonight, you sure you want to make it seven?"

Azoth tried to understand what was being said, the Woman was Durzo Blint? She was the best Wetboy in the city, or Wetgirl as the case was, some of the others used to joke about it, but stopped quickly when they realized if they continued, they wouldn't wake up.

"Blint, you'd be like to cut your own head off, in the time I've been watching you've had six-

"Eight flagons and four in a different tavern."

Azoth grabbed his third coin quickly, he had to get out of here, two killers were about to go after each other directly above him, he didn't want to stick around.

"You're bluffing." The newcomer said, but there was fear in his voice.

"I don't Bluff," Durzo Blint said. "Why don't you invite your friends in? or are they not so foolish as you."

The man put two fingers to his lips, and whistled, Azoth didn't see the woman move, just heard the gurgle of blood that the whistle ended in, the thump of the man's body pushing his head back down.

Another few moments, a couple of rings of steel and more thumps and Azoth knew it was over. Even then he waited, too scared to move.

Had they all killed each other? The thought chilled Azoth, he had seen someone murdered twice before, but never so many so quickly.

With all the courage of a thousand warriors Azoth managed to track down ten coppers, more then double what he needed, and got ready to crawl out the first chance he got.

He moved forward, and his path was blocked suddenly, he realized what it was, it was Durzo Blints huge sword, stabbed into the ground in front of him, and the legendary killer was staring him straight in the eyes.

"Never speak of this to anyone, Understand? I've done far worse than kill children." She said.

Azoth trembled.

She turned, the sword returning to its scabbard.

A few minutes passed, and when Azoth escaped the passage way he didn't stop running until he got back to his Guilds Den.

He knew she was watching him.


	2. Chapter 2

Way of shadows chapter 2

Durzo Blint pulled herself to the top of the small estate's wall, and waited for the gambeson wearing guard. He seemed to be the perfect guard, predictable walking pattern, eyes forward and stupid expression on his face. He took his thirty-nine step', stopped at the corner, stomped heavy iron halberd, and scratched his belly beneath his quilted clothing, and moved on quickly.

_Thirty five. Thirty sis. _Durzo slipped out of the man's shadow and eased himself over the edge of the walkway. She held on by his fingertips.

Now. She dropped and hit the grass just as the guard thumped the butt of his halberd on the wood, smothering the sound of her fall. She doubted the guard would have heard him anyway, but paranoia begat perfection in the Wetboy's trade. The yard was small, and the house not much bigger. It was built on the Ceuran design, with translucent rice paper walls. Bald cypress and white cedar formed the doors and archers and cheaper local pine had been used for the frame and the floors.

It was mostly bare like all Ceuran houses which fit General Agon and his personality like a glove. The budget probably had more to do with it though, Durzo mused to herself. King Davin had not rewarded him well-Part of the reason she was here.

Durzo found an unlocked window on the second. The Generals wife was fast asleep in the bed: They were not Ceuran enough to sleep on woven maps. They were poor enough however to have a bed stuffed with straw rather than a more luxurious bed of feathers, though most Cenarian's would consider a well packed mattress such as this one to be opulent.

The wife, a plain, middle-aged woman was sprawled in the middle of the bed, taking up most of the bed, the covers of where the woman had encroached encroach on were disturbed.

Durzo frowned and crossed the room to her bedside, stooped over and using her talent to completely muffle the sound of her feet on the hard oak floor.

'_Strange, not just the usual Conjugal visit made by a nobleman, they must share the room, he is far poorer then I would have thought_.' Durzo mused to herself.

Durzo's Brow furrowed under the softwood mask she wore, it was an unnecessary detail, the woman's death was all that mattered. She slid out the small poisoners knife out of her belt. The woman need never feel a thing.

Durzo stopped. The woman was turned with her face towards the covers, and one of her hands was stretched over, over her husband most like while he had slept, if it had been just a shared bed she would have faced far away from him, if it were a conjugal visit she would have been faced away from him and as far away from him as she could get.

The two loved eachoter, Aleine Gunder had planned to offer the Widower general a new wife, one who was rich or attractive to gain the General's loyalty, but this general who had married for love, would react quite volatilely to the proposed political marriage.

'_Idiot_' Durzo thought. '_He is so consumed with ambition he assumed every other man was as well._' She put her knife back in its special sheath and crept into the hall, the woman did not have to die but he still had to know where the general stood. Immediately.

"Dammit man! King Davin's dying. Ill be amazed if he makes it through another week.

That was true enough, Durzo had given the King his last dose of poison tonight, the king would not live to see dawn. Leaving a throne in contention between a strong, wise and just man, and another who was totally corrupt and weak. The Sa'Kage nor Durzo were not uninterested in the outcome. It was a very lucrative job for Durzo, taking the lives of kings meant a lot more to those who hired her then the death of some noble, and the difference could be weighed in gold.

The voice had come from the solar down the stairs. Durzo padded quickly down to the end of a hall. The house was so small that the Solar doubled as an office. He had a perfect view of the two men.

General Brant Agon had a greying bear, a shaved, military head, and a jerky way of walking bought on by too many incoming sword swings and a life in the saddle.

The man across him was the great Duke Regnus Gyre, The chair he sat in creaked with his weight, he was a proud man, tall and wide, very little of his weight was fat. He folded ringed fingers on his fingers.

'_By the Night Angels. I could kill the both of them and end all the Nine's worries right now._' Durzo thought resting a hand on a knife. It was a feeling she had gotten every time she entered the royal keep.

"Are we deceiving ourselves Brant?" Duke Gyre asked.

The General did not answer immediately. "My Lord-"

"No, Brant. I need your opinion as a friend, not as a vassal." Durzo crept closer. And took out the throwing knives, being careful with the deadly edges.

"If we do nothing." The general said, "Aleine Gunder will become king. He is a weak, foul and faithless man. The mobs already owns the Warrens; the king's patrols won't leave the main roads, and you know that's only going to get worse. The Death Games entrenched the Sa'Kage. Aleine doesn't have the will or the inclination to oppose them, while we can still root them out. So are we deceiving ourselves in thinking that you would be a better king? Not at all. And that ugly throne is yours by rights."

Blint almost smiled. The underworlds Lords, the nine of the Sa'Kage all agreed with every word, which was why she was here. To make sure that this noble man did not become king.

"And tactically? Could we do it?"

"With minimal bloodshed. Duke Wesseros is out of the country. My own Regiment is in the city. The men believe in you. We need a strong, good king, we need you my lord."

Duke Gyre spread his hands. "And Aleine's family? They'll be part of this minimal bloodshed?"

The General's voice went quiet. "You want the truth? Yes. Even if we do not order it, even order against it, one of our men will kill them even if it means a hanging. That's how badly they spoil for you to wear a crown.

Duke Gyre breathed. "So the question is, does the good of thefuture outweigh the murder of a few now?"

'_How long has it been since I had such qualms?' _Durzo barley resisted the urge to throw the knives. The suddenness of it surprised her. '_What was that?' _She asked herself.

It was Regnus. The man reminded him of another king she had once served, a king who had been worthy of it.

"That's for you to answer, my lord." General Agon said. "But if I may, is the question really so philosophical?"

"What do you mean?"

"You still love Nalia don't you?" Nalia was Aliene Gunder's wife.

Regnus turned the colour of milk. "I was betrothed to her for ten years, we were each other's first lovers."

"My Lord, I'm sorry. The general said quickly. "It is not my place to-"

"No Brant. I never speak of it. As I decide whether or not to be king, let me." He breathed deeply. "It's been fifteen years since Nalia's father broke our betrothal and married her to that dog Aleine. I should be over it. I am, except when I see her with her children and have to imagine her sharing a bed with that slug. The only joy my own marriage has given me is Logan, and I cannot delude myself into believing hers has been any better."

"My lord, given the involuntary nature of both your weddings, could you not divorce Catrinna and marry-"

"No." Regnus shook his head. "If the queen's children live, they will always be a threat to my son, wether I exile them or adopt them. Nalia's eldest son is fourteen- too old to forget he was destined for the throne."

"The right is on your side, my lord, and who knows but that answers unforseen may arise to these problems once you sit the throne?"

Regnus nodded unhappily, obviously knowing he held hundreds of thousands of lives in his hands, not knowing he held his own as well. '_If he plots rebellion I swear by the Night Angels I will throw these knives, I serve only myself, always myself.'_

"May generations unborn forgive me," Regneus Gyre said, tears gleaming in his eyes. "But I will not commit murder for what may be. Brant, I cannot. I will swear my fealty.

The Wetboy slid the knives back into their sheaths, ignoring the mixed feelings of despair and relief she felt.

'_It's that damned woman, she's ruined me, she's ruined everything.'_ Durzo thought to herself as she crept towards the fat guard from earlier.

Someone had to die tonight, of natural causes.

* * *

><p><em>I am very sorry for thee major lack of updates, time just really slipped past me, i swear on my non-existent honor to do better :)<em>

_please leave any critiscism or otherwise in the review box, anything at all, positive or negative is a HUUUGE motivator to write_


	3. Chapter 3

The Way of Shadows chapter 3

Blint saw the ambush coming from fifty feet away, and walked calmly into its jaws. The sun was finally rising and the only people on the streets were toughs and merchants who fell asleep where they ought not and were hurrying home to their wives.

The guild, black dragons based on the glyphs she had seen; had hid their strongmen in the two alleys at either end of the street, so that any time they could swarm out and block off both ends of the street; While littles pelted down stones on anyone with the gall to fight back.

She had affected a bad limp, and pulled her cloak tight around herself, no one would be able to distinguish her mottled greys from the rags of an old woman. She groaned in fake pain, perhaps if she pretended to be a poor, old broken women, they would let her pass.

As she limped, one of the older boys, a _Big_ as they called them, stepped out to block her path, brandishing a rusty sabre with a whistle. Guild rats rushed out like she expected, surrounding the Wetboy.

"Clever," Durzo said "You keep a lookout before dawn when most of the other guilds are sleeping, and you're able to jump a few bags who've been out all night whoring. They don't want to explain any bruises from fighting to their wives, so they hand over their coins. Not bad. Whose idea was that?"

"Azoth's." a big said, pointing past the Wetboy.

"Shut up, Roth!" the guild head said. The Wetboy looked at the small boy on the rooftop. He was holding a rock aloft, his pale blue eyes intent, ready. He looked familiar.

"Oh, now you've given him away," Durzo teased.

"You shut up, too!" the guild head said, shaking the sabre at him. "Hand over your purse or we'll kill you."

"Ja'laliel," a black guild rat said, "he called them 'bags.' A merchant wouldn't know we call them that. She's Sa'kagé."

"Shut up, Jarl! We need this." Ja'laliel coughed and spat blood. "Just give us your—" "I don't have the time for this. Move," Durzo said. "Hand it—" The wetboy darted forward, her left hand twisting Ja'laliel's sword hand, the sabre dropped as the guild head yelped in pain. Blint pulled her other arm back, and with a great amount of self-restraint, she turned a fatally powerful punch into a staggering backhand that sent the man to the ground.

The fight lasted only as long as it took for the guild rats to figure out what had happened.

"I said I don't have time for this." Durzo said shaking away her hood.

She was aware of how plain she was too look at, Lanky and sharp featured, her dark blonde hair, whilst well cared for, was only good at adding to her naturally off putting facial features. But off putting looks didn't warrant the guild's reaction. Their reaction suggested that she had three horned heads.

"Durzo Blint…" One of the Big's muttered.

Rocks fell from the rooves to the ground.

"Durzo Blint, Wetboy, Best killer in the city" all those words passed through the guild in waves, She saw fear and awe in their eyes, they'd just tried to mug one of their legends.

She smirked. "Sharpen this. Only an amateur lets his blade rust." She picked the sabre up only to throw it into a gutter clogged with sewage. Then she walked through the mob. They scattered as though her presence might kill them all.

Azoth watched her stride into the early morning mists, disappearing like so many dreams into the sewer of the warrens. Durzo Blint was everything Azoth wasn't. She was powerful, dangerous, confidant, and terrifying. She was like some dark god, She had looked at the power of the whole guild arrayed against her, even the Bigs like Roth and Ja'laliel and Rat. And she had laughed

'_Laughed! Someday._' Azoth swore, He didn't quite dare think the whole thought, lest Blint sense his want, his want to _be her._

'_Someday.'_

When Blint was far enough away not to notice, Azoth followed the Wetboy across the roofs.


End file.
